Akron Rifle Headed to NCAA Championships for First Time

Friday, March 13

Lexington, KY | Memorial Coliseum

10 AM

University of Akron

Smallbore Championship

Akron Rifle Headed to NCAA Championships for First Time

March 12 | Rifle

AKRON at 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships
Friday, March 13 | Smallbore
Saturday, March 14 | Air Rifle
Memorial Coliseum | Lexington, Ky.

Video Stream: Day 1 | Day 2
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Media Guide (in PDF)

THIS WEEK
The University of Akron rifle team will make history this week as the Zips head to their first NCAA Championship in program history. Akron travels to the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships on March 13 and 14. Hosted by the University of Kentucky, the event will be held at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

Smallbore action gets underway on Friday, March 13, with relays at 9:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. The smallbore individual championship finals are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Air rifle competition is set for Saturday, March 14, with relays at 9:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
Air rifle championship individual finals are set for 2 p.m. Team and individual awards will be presented following competition (approximately 4 p.m.)

Live stats and a video stream will be available. Links will be posted on GoZips.com on the rifle schedule page.

A total of 48 competitors will compete in the championships, with 40 competitors coming from the top eight teams selected– Air Force, Akron, Kentucky, Murray State, Navy, Nebraska, Texas Christian, and West Virginia. The remaining eight competitors were selected based on the scores submitted from the designated qualifier.

Individual competitors in the smallbore are Abby Buesseler (Mississippi), Taylor Gibson (Memphis), Clayton Hanson (Army), and Kellen McAferty (Alaska Fairbanks). Individuals competing in the air rifle are Ariel Hall (Ohio State), Kaitlin Korinek (UT Martin), and Makenzie Sheffield (N.C. State). Army's Kaitlyn Kutz will compete in both events.

ABOUT AKRON
Making their first NCAA (team) Championship appearance, the Akron Zips continue their record-setting season. Under the guidance of 42nd-year head coach Newt Engle, the Zips were ranked among the nation's Top 10 all season, reaching a program-high No. 4. Last month, Akron finished third at the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship, its highest team finish since joining the league in 2015. The Zips' top shooters this season are sophomore Andre Gross (Webster, N.Y.) in the smallbore, and junior Wyatt Openshaw (Parkton, Md.) in the air rifle.

Gross competed at the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championships in the smallbore as an individual. He finished second overall (454.8) behind TCU's Elizabeth Marsh (456.9).

SCOUTING AIR FORCE
The No. 6 Air Force Academy, under the guidance of 12th-year head coach Launi Meili, finished second at the Patriot Rifle Conference Championship behind TCU. The Falcons fell to No. 2 TCU in the NCAA qualifier on Feb. 16.

The Falcons finished third overall at the 2019 NCAA Championships while claiming the team air rifle title.

Sophomore Peter Fiori is Air Force's top shooter in the air rifle, while junior Sarah Sawicki is the top gun in smallbore.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY
The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, under the tutelage of 32nd-year head coach Harry Mullins, captured the 2020 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship.

The two-time national champions won the title in 2011 and 2018. Last spring, the Wildcats finished fifth at the NCAA match.

Sophomore Will Shanner captured medalist honors at the GARC in the air rifle. Freshman Mary Tucker was the GARC's top aggregate shooter, claiming second in the smallbore and third in the air gun.

SCOUTING MURRAY STATE
The No. 9 Murray State Racers, under the helm of 12th-year head coach Alan Lollar, are making their sixth consecutive appearance, and 34th overall, in the NCAA Championships.

The Racers finished at the OVC Championship, taking second in the smallbore and second in the air rifle.

Freshman Matias Kiuru was named the 2020 OVC Rifle Athlete of the Year as well as first-team All-OVC for both guns after claiming the air rifle title. Senior Meike Drewell earned second-team All-OVC honors in both guns.

SCOUTING NAVY
The No. 10 Navy Midshipmen, under the guidance of third-year head coach Mike Anti, finished fifth at the GARC Championship.

Navy will participate in its second consecutive NCAA Championships and 28th overall.

Sophomore Gabriella Mayes earned GARC Honorable Mention honors in the air rifle, while junior Torrance Kang was Navy's Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA
The fourth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, under the tutelage of first-year head coach Rachel Martin, finished fourth at the GARC Championship.

The all-female squad is returning to the NCAA Championships in 2020 after missing in 2019, snapping a streak of six consecutive appearances.

Junior Emily Cheramie captured medalist honors in the smallbore at the GARC Championship. Sophomore Elena Flake is the top shooter in air rifle.

SCOUTING TCU
The defending national champion Texas Christian Horned Frogs, under the helm of 16th-year head coach Karen Monez, are ranked No. 4 heading into the NCAA Championships. TCU won the Patriot Rifle Conference championship.

Making their 14th consecutive NCAA appearance, the Horned Frogs captured the smallbore team title in 2019 while finishing second in the air rifle.

Junior Elizabeth Marsh will defend her individual smallbore national title, while sophomore Kristen Hemphill will defend her air rifle national title.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA
The third-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, under the guidance of 14th-year head coach Jon Hammond, finished second at the 2020 GARC Championship.

The winner of six national championships, 10 individual NCAA titles, and 10 GARC championships in 13 seasons, West Virginia is making its 13th consecutive NCAA appearance. Overall, WVU has won a national record 19 NCAA Rifle Championships. The last title came in 2017.

Junior Sarah Osborn finished second in combined scores at the GARC. She finished fourth in the smallbore final and set a personal best in the air rifle. Sophomore Jared Eddy is WVU's best air rifle shooter.

DID YOU KNOW . . .

Rifle is the only co-ed NCAA sport. While other sports hold their men's and women's competitions at the same time, rifle competition features male and female athletes competing against each other for one championship.
Akron's former head coach Nancy Worsencroft became the first female coach of an all-male team in the USA was when she took the reigns in 1968.
Akron sports a brother-sister duo as teammates. Senior Sarah Schunupp and sophomore Patrick Schnupp hail from Gorham, Maine. Their younger sister Erin will join the Zips as a freshman in the Fall of 2020.
The University of Akron hosted the 2016 NCAA Rifle Championships, the first-ever national championship held on the University of Akron campus.
The first time in NCAA history that both the smallbore and air rifle competitions were held on the same a range was at the 2016 NCAA Championship at the Stile Athletics Field House, on a range built by Akron in the Fall of 2015. Since 2016, the range travels to the host site for the NCAA Championships.